Just an Ordinary Day in the Life of an Ordinary Girl

"Wait a minute, dear," you say to him.
You pull your hand out of Thomas' hand and quickly walk up to the place where you saw the movement.

"Wait!" you call out to the figure that seems startled by your sudden move and doesn't seem to know whether to stay put or run for it.
You manage to take a few steps towards him - which tells you it is indeed a man, probably with a plump body and something like a goatee or a small beard - before Thomas catches up with you and pulls you away from the mystery man, who seems to grab this opportunity to quietly disappear.

"Amilynn, what are you doing?!" Thomas has turned you around to face him and now has his hands placed on both of your shoulders. You feel uncomfortable.

You frown and try to explain what your intentions were. "I was curious about the man that was watching us from the shadows. I wanted to see who he was."

"He's no one," Thomas says sternly, looking at you penetratively. "It could have been Henry, the butler and supervisor of this house-keeping. You should avoid him.... People in this town say he's not fully sane, so don't mind him and his strange behaviour and stay away from him."

You're bothered by the way Thomas speaks to you. And his rough handling of a moment ago is not making you feel comfortable either. And this feeling only gets worse when Thomas says he will take you to your chambers now, after which he tightly puts his arm around you and almost forces you towards the stairs.
"You must be exhausted, dear," he now says in his old charming manner. "I will get you when dinner is ready."

All the way up to the chamber you ponder if you did something wrong, although soon the thoughts on the event downstairs are suppressed by the new impressions of the first floor.

After the staircase Thomas leads you down a long corridor, likewise only lit by a handful of torchlights lining the walls.
You pass two large oak doors, one on each side, before you come to a stop before the third one, to your left. "Here are your chambers, Ammy love," Thomas announces as he turns the doorknob and sweeps the door open. With one arm extended, he allows you to enter before him - ladies first, after all.

After a moment's hesitation, you take a step forward through the doorway - and find yourself in the most amazing chamber you have ever seen. The carpet that covered the floor in the hall and corridors extends further inwards, the full red colour contrasted by the lighter cream shaded walls. A grand four-poster bed dominates the room, although there is plenty of space left for a large closet, flanked by a tall mirror and a simple yet stylish wooden desk. To the far wall, there is a window, although it is currently dark outside and the curtains - thick ruby satin - are drawn shut. You find a suitcase placed besides the bed, waiting to be opened and unpacked.

"I have had your suitcase brought up here. Take your rest for this next hour, darling. I shall call for you when dinner is ready." Thomas places a gentle kiss on your forehead and grants you one last smile before leaving and closing the door behind him.

As soon as he is out of sight, you let out a sigh - you can't help it, you just feel so overwhelmed by everything. At least he is behaving normally again. Your doubts have faded by the signs of affection he just gave you.

Then you remember the object that you found in the water. You reach for it in your cleavage and find it's still there. You now look at it for the first time. It's a small velvet bag, attached to a leather lace of the same brownish colour. It's still damp and because of it hard to open. After a while your efforts are successful. You hold the bag upside-down and catch the content with your left hand. It's a ring, and a magnificent one, too. A small, beautifully polished blue sapphire, embedded in a ring of gold. It seems inappropriate to put it on, so you put it back into the velvet bag and put it away in one of the drawers of the wooden desk. You might want to ask Thomas about it later on.

The first thing to do now is change. You grab your suitcase, open it and take the first dress you get your hands on. It's a simple brown dress, cut out low, with some beautifully carried out blue embroidery. You leave your wet red dress on a chair to dry.

Surveying the room again, you ponder what to do next - you're tired and thus sleep seems to be the obvious choice, yet you don't want to leave that suitcase there, not yet unpacked. Besides, maybe you should explore the room a little more too... perhaps even venture out into the rest of the manor on your own, though Thomas perhaps wouldn't like it?

Which shall it be?